Email from Mom: Thursday, September 2, 2021

To: Christian.garcia@missionary.org
Date: September 2, 2021
Subject: Hey!

Hey,

How are you doing? How is this week treating you? I cannot believe it is already Thursday! It has been a fairly busy week here but that is okay because I needed it to go by quick. :)

Let's check in with you before I go into what is happening here at home. How was your stay in Lome this week? How is Elder Trenum? How did your interview with the President go? How often do you have interviews with the President? Are you feeling better about your companion? Did he give you some advice on how to move forward with your companion? Have you been able to talk more to your 2 brothers you are working with (I think you said Doji and Aplete?) about baptism? How are Freeman and Jenifer doing? Monday you said they were progressing really well, anything more this week? I was also looking over some thoughts on your friends, Wisdom and Paul. You should see if they would be open to a photo with you? I would love to see the 'American Style' you talked about with how they dress. Did Elder Coe help you get your own sim card? How will that work with phone usage? Will you be able to just ask to use the phone or how does that work? Were you able to find anything to do for your companion this week to show your appreciation for him? 

Things at home were busy this week but low key when it comes down to typing it up. Isn't that funny how that works? Okay...so here you go...

Monday, Tyler headed to Wyoming and by the time they got up there and 1/2 way up the mountain he was pretty annoyed at Banning. Banning bought himself a pack wheel (the thing that looks like a 1 wheel bicycle that hauls their stuff for them) but of course he had to 'Banning' it and it broke down. Tyler said they had to make 2 trips back down to get all their stuff up to camp and was so  mad. Tyler wanted to rent horses but of course it would be $250 and Banning has Jaime to deal with so he pushed for the pack wheel. Needless to say, Tyler went to bed early and hoped for a better day on Tuesday. I tried to get the Africa Amazon to work and they don't like the phone number I have entered to set up an account. I sent a request for help off and I will have to wait to see what I can do. If you happen to find a pair of brown shoes maybe just pick them up? I don't know what to expect on a response and possibility that this might work or not. Sorry!

Tuesday I had lunch with Shandie Evans. I keep getting the push to reach out to her and so I finally asked and she was thrilled to go. It was so sad to sit and listen to her. Her and Jim are just waiting on the judge to sign off on divorce papers, Jim has lied to Parker and the other 2 boys about stuff which has made them turn off any response to Shandie, and she is just heartbroken. She wants Parker to know that she is there and loves him so she is at the football field Wed, Thurs, and Fri every week. The super sad part is that she seriously is so much happier than I think I ever knew her to be! You can tell that the divorce was good for her and that she needed to find herself. I will just keep her in my prayers. But she wanted me to be sure you knew that she was thinking of you and that she prays for you. She could not pass on enough appreciation for the kindness you showed to Connor but then the friend you became to Parker too. I also hosted Mom's with littles in the pool that night. Littles like Primary smalls so the Payne's, the Girsbergers, the Collings, and Sydney Young and her little boy. It was pure chaos with all of the small humans in the pool but they seemed to have a lot of fun. Every single one of them asked about you and how you are doing. They are all still shocked and amazed that you are in Africa! It blows everyone's mind seriously. Andrew Payne was here to help Liz out (they have a 6, 4, and 2 year old little girl plus their new 7 week old little boy) and he asked a lot about you and how you are doing. I told him you were good and that you are learning to process really hard things right now. He wanted me to let you know that the Payne family (even if you aren't 100% sure who they all are) are here at home cheering you on. He served in Argentina and shared with me that the first few months he struggled really really bad. He says looking back he is sure glad to have had those struggles but in the moment they felt un-doable. So see... you aren't alone in the hard. :) And we all know you've got this! Mindy Colling was hilarious as she just kept saying "He is in Africa. He is going to have the coolest stories and adventures!". It seriously was on replay the whole hour and a half they were here. I could not quit laughing! I got to snuggle Rhett Payne (the 7 week old) the whole time and I won't lie, it was nice to smell the newborn scent and listen to him make little noises but my arm fell asleep and was KILLING me by the time they were ready to go! I haven't held a little like in over a decade so you forget just how much a little can weigh when laying on your arm for that kind of time.

Wednesday as we headed out the door (I have been walking down the trail with the girls and then dropping them off and heading off on my walk) I caught the prettiest sunrise. I was reminded that no matter where you and I are on this crazy Earth, we each get a sunrise and even if they look different, it is one less day that you aren't home. :) I also thought about the Atonement and how each new day we get to start over and each new day we can decide how our sunrise and sunset are going to look. Even if our sunrise looks really amazing but then life gets  muddied in the middle so our sunset isn't as vibrant...tomorrow always comes and we can start again. I was 4 miles into my 6 mile walk when I detoured to my 8:15am chiropractor appt. I was actually 10 minutes early but I figured since I was walking I would go in and wait if I had to. I didn't and as I headed out to head home (it's the one on 134th by the car wash) my legs were killing me! Like sharp needles in the backs of my knees and the ball of my feet were on fire. I wasn't sure I was going to make it home but I kept walking and by the time I got to the porch I could hardly bend my legs to take the stairs to the front door. I have known for some time that I needed new shoes (my Asics are 6 years old) but I love this pair and I love the comfort and broken in feel of them so I have avoided it at all costs. The trouble was that as I sat in the office and did some Relief Society stuff my legs got so cramped up that I ended up in the hot tub for an hour and thankfully that helped! Plus, I decided to take today and not go for a walk. I will hopefully feel better tomorrow and get back into the swing of things. I also took some chicken salad and some croissants to a neighbor who lives on Whisper Rose Dr. They are the Baldarrago's and they are awesome! When I pulled up (or B did in the Rzr actually) the missionaries were there on the porch visiting with them. Bro B just had back surgery a couple of weeks ago and is the most upbeat person ever. They love love to travel and they love the Island of Kauai! Go figure! Anyways, they were really great and fun to talk to. Hard to understand a little bit but so appreciative of the offer of service from the missionaries and for the food. They were most grateful that we all stopped by. Made me realize that I often take our relationships and friendships for granted that we have here in the neighborhood. I need to be more diligent in stopping in and saying hello and just making sure everyone is good in those homes you know?

Today I met with a Sister in the ward who is inactive. She lives in the new house that was built next to the Maynards. She lost her husband 13 or 17 years ago (I can't remember the number). She has 3 kids and owns the home with her parents. Her parents are not members and she joined when she was in her 30's. She has had callings in presidencies and clearly has the strongest testimony of the Gospel. She made it very clear though that she has too many memories of church with her husband that that is why she doesn't go. She says she misses church and the feelings within the walls. She misses being in the temple. But being there she is reminded of so many times she would be walking down the hall or in the chapel and be able to catch a glimpse of her husband and that it would make her so happy he was there with her. Even after this many years she is still struggling with moving on. Broke my heart. She was super super kind and had only nice and wonderful things to say about where she lives and her neighbors so that is good. I will make a reminder to check in on her and go visit once in a while so she knows I am here if she needs anything. After that I ran to the Run Great store to see if I could just do an insert in my shoe but...they are pretty shot so I will take them to the cabin for grass mowing shoes and I ended up with a new pair for my walks. I am not even excited about them! I am currently mourning my Asics even though they will still be around. I just know that I can't keep doing 6 miles in them if I want my feet and body to not hurt. Why do we have to get old and need shoes to keep us healthy?! Ha ha ha

The Braves got swept by the Dodgers in the 3 games they played in LA. They definitely gave them a run for their money and the umpires were NOT on the Braves side for anything. Ozzie Albies was in game #2 of 3 and up to bat. He was down 0-2 on the count, swung at a ball and it ricocheted off the bat to his knee. He went down immediately and ended up being carried off the field. :/ Not another one is all I could think. The x-rays show nothing to be concerned about so it probably just stung real real bad. He is day to day so hopefully we will have him back on the field soon. We head to Colorado today and have 4 games against the Rockies before we head back home. Our final stretch is heavy with the top teams but I am sure hoping we can pull it off and head to the playoffs. Right now we are in 1st place and up 1.5 games on the Phillies. The crazy thing is now the Mets (who were in 1st for forever!) are 5 games back from 1st!!! Baseball is crazy!

Tomorrow is another appt at the chiropractor in the morning, check in on Brooklynn Larsen because she is having eye surgery, get ready for Tyler to come home, run to the Costco because we are going to the cabin for Labor Day weekend, and then maybe depending on what the weather looks like, find some time by the pool. It is starting to get a little chilly these days around here (like jacket on in the house, socks on feet, etc) so I don't know how many more pool days are going to be around. I am so not ready for Winter! And I am honestly worried that this is going to be a wet heavy year for snow. I know we need it but I just don't love it at all. :/ I have a meeting at 7:30am on Sunday and then up to the cabin. Hoping for a nice relaxing kind of weekend. We have the Millers, Stephens, and Katherine Chelius joining us for dinner. Katherine isn't staying the night but the others are so it should be fun.

This has turned into a long email. I am sorry about that. I will leave you with one last...I was listening to the radio and a song from Pink! came on and then I watched a documentary on her this week on the Amazon Prime. Anyways, she has a song and in it there is a line that says "If you ever feel like you're nothing...you are perfect to me". I could not stop the tears from falling out of my eyes as I thought of you, where you are, and what it is you are doing. Never ever doubt that you are good enough, that you are doing enough, or even question yourself. You are perfect just the way you are and I love you more than you know. I cannot wait to hear how your week has gone and see how you are doing.

I love you to the moon and back,

Mom

Photos: 

Brooklyn decided to take me for a Rzr ride just so we could get out of the house (she didn't get to hang out with friends this week. Just needed a break and so it was nice to get out together rather than her always being with friends)

Snuggling cute Rhett Payne who put my whole left arm to sleep way too quickly!

You should love this...my Christmas box is officially underway! Wahoo!

Soaking my poor sad feet that just needed a new pair of shoes but I am just too attached to the ones I love so....

My sunrise...just as a reminder that with each new day we get to choose what we want our sunset to look like after seeing the beauty in what is promised in the morning.